Everglade: The Underaged

Chapter 21

After the Underaged left, Fionntan folded his wings. Forwin woke up. He didn't attack, though, he just curled into a ball. Luke sat beside him. Forwin did nothing. Luke looked at Fionntan.

Is he okay? He asked.

He is realizing that his power is gone. He feels empty. Fionntan explained.

Wish I could have helped him. Luke had tried his hardest to help Forwin, but no matter how hard he'd tried, the damage had just kept coming back.

There is one thing. Fionntan readjusted himself.

What is it?

I will have to show you, it is an ages old technique.

Show me. Luke felt Fionntan's presence inside his head.

What I'm going to show you has not been done for millenia. Luke saw a man tied to a chair. What happens is a telepath forces his way into someone's mind, then he locates the source of his victims power, rips it out and stores it in the back of the victims mind, where they can't access it. Luke saw another man come in and put his fingers on the other man's temples. He saw the other man's face go pale. The victim gets an empty feeling because you have taken away a part of him. The way to fix this is to locate the piece that has been torn away and reunite it with the gap that was left behind. Luke saw a third man approach the first and put his fingers on the first man's temples. He saw the color return to the first man's face. After you do that, the empty feeling goes away.

Are there side effects? Luke asked.

No. Luke gently moved Forwin's head. He put his fingers on Forwin's temples. He went inside Forwin's head. Forwin didn't even try to resist him. Luke found the part that had been locked away and brought it to the damaged part. It sealed itself back together. Immediately, full awareness returned to Forwin's mind. Luke worked fast to retreat. But, Forwin caught him.

You helped me, I hurt you. He said.

You needed help, I decided to use my power to help you. I can also help you find you brother. Luke replied.

He's dead. The Crows made me hurt him bad enough, he would've died from his wounds. Luke felt sorrow come into Forwin's mind.

Let me try. Someone might have been able to help him. Luke begged.

Alright. There was a small glimmer of hope in Forwin's mind. Luke stretched out his mind searching for Forwin's brother's thoughts just like he had at his party when he was looking for Korman. He used Forwin's memories of his brother to know what to look for. He found a match. He carefully went inside the mind he found and searched for memories of Forwin. He found them, they were fuzzy, the kid barely remembered his own brother. He went to the thoughts part of Forwin's brother's mind. He felt him flinch when he entered.

I'm with your brother, Forwin. Luke told him.

My brother is gone. Forwin's brother replied. I lost him.

No! He's free now! Luke showed him the current memories he had of Forwin. There was consideration.

How do I know I can trust you?

Because I'm an Underaged too, and The Crows went after me.

Where can I find you?

Five miles to your east.

I'm on my way. Luke pulled out.

"I found him! He's coming!" Luke told Forwin. Forwin's face lit up.

"Really?" he asked eagerly. Luke nodded.

"Yes."

"I haven't seen him in... I don't know... I was under The Crows' control for too long."